This is the story of a woman who put all her eggs in one basket. And how that risk has actually paid off. It’s the story of a specialist who has found success in her passion. And it’s the story of a mother who has given her daughters the gift of a fulfilled role model and a passion for travel. To Fiji, of course. This is Belinda Hackett’s story.
Belinda Hackett was on the first flight out of Sydney to Fiji after the borders opened. She spent much of the flight in tears.
“It was just so surreal being back to a destination that was so quickly taken away from me,” she says.
“I’d been to Fiji over 70 times and never dreamed there would come a time I wouldn’t be allowed to go there.”
Belinda, like most of us, took travel for granted. Until it was taken away.
“Finally being able to fly back… It was like coming home.”
Her voice breaks a little when talking about her reunion with resort staff. Staff who have watched her children grow, who enthusiastically comment on her Facebook posts. Staff who are a surrogate family. “It’s definitely more than just a holiday to us.”
“I’ve travelled the world,” she says. “Fiji just has my heart.”
Belinda is (obviously) a Fiji and South Pacific specialist. It’s unlikely there’s a Fijian resort she hasn’t inspected or stayed at. And the hospitality staff know her so well her daughters are convinced she’s famous in Fiji.
When she met her husband, one of the first things she asked him was if he liked Fiji.
“That was the deal breaker,” she says jokingly (but is completely serious).
Belinda started in travel with South Pacific wholesaler PITC back in 1997. After some eight years there, she had a couple of years in a London retail travel agency. She returned to another South Pacific wholesaler, Coral Seas, and spent 12 years with them, only leaving after the company was sold.
“I decided it was time to be my own boss,” she tells Karryon. “So I took the redundancy that was offered and joined TravelManagers Australia.”
Putting the special in specialist
When Belinda joined TravelManagers Australia, she made it her mission to make a reputation for herself within the industry as a specialist.
“But you need to know a lot about the destination to call yourself a specialist,” she tells Karryon.
“So I just made sure I attended all trade and travel shows related to Fiji. I made sure I introduced myself constantly at all those trade and travel shows as ‘Belinda: Fiji specialist’.”
But when you’ve got all your eggs in one basket, there’s a risk you could lose them all. Not for Belinda.
Fiji is Belinda’s love and selling what you love everyday far outweighs the risks.
And in fact, when the pandemic hit, Belinda says she was grateful to have “stayed in her lane”.
“I was fortunate at that point that I was a specialist. I dealt with two airlines, one wholesaler, and a handful of resorts that I had already amazing relationships with.
“Together we were able to sort out every single one of my bookings.”
And now that travel is back with a vengeance, Belinda says her time is “best spent doing exactly what I know”.
From the ground up (and up and up)
Starting afresh was scary, Belinda admits.
“Coming from a wholesale background meant that my clients were travel agents.
“I didn’t have a direct database. I didn’t have a single retail client to follow me on this journey.”
She gave herself 12 months.
It’s been eight years now and Belinda is in a lucky position where growing her business isn’t a problem. There’s almost too much of it!
Most of her business comes from repeat clients and referrals, she tells us.
And despite never having done a marketing or social media course, Hackett credits 80% of her business to social media.
Belinda started with a presence in community Facebook groups, and is now sought out thanks to her posting authentic photos and a strategic use of hashtags.
“I remember once getting an email from someone who didn’t have social media but had searched for images of Vomo Island Fiji. They came across some of my photos due to my hashtags.”
Another travel agent had told them that Vomo Island was an adults only resort, but Belinda’s photos showed her kids enjoying the resort’s facilities.
“Anyone can make themselves look skinny or pretty on the internet,” says Belinda. “Not me. We’re all real.”
“I go away and I take 100 photos, and my kids complain. But that’s what sells: my photos, my iPhone, my family. I’m not photoshopping them. I’m not filtering them.”
“This is real. This is just us.”
“And then I get a lot of clients that are like, ‘We just googled something in Fiji, and your photos popped up. Are you able to help us?’”
That person who got in touch with Belinda about Vomo Island was one such person. And the moral of the story, Belinda says, is that they have now spent over $500k with her on family luxury holidays in Fiji.
All in the family
Belinda’s daughters were babies when they first travelled to Fiji. Over the years, across countless visits, resort staff have watched them grow. Maclaryn is now 13 and Lila is 12.
And they’re practically Fiji specialists as well.
“I’ll take a work call in the car and after I hang up, my girls will say to me, ‘Why didn’t you tell that client about Malolo Island?’ Or, ‘Why don’t you suggest that they go to Castaway?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, did you hear what they said their budget was?’ Or, ‘Did you hear when they said they wanted this?’ And they’ll understand. So they’re onto it too.”
But even if Maclaryn or Lila don’t end up following in their mum’s ‘famous’ Fijian footsteps, the lessons Belinda has taught them will serve them well.
“You spend way too much time working in your lifetime to hate what you’re doing,” Belinda says.
“So find something that you love, and be good at it.”
I ask her what she would do if not this. She can’t answer. ”If you could do anything in the world, no restrictions, what would it be,” I prompt.
“This, I would do this,” she says.
“I would not change my job or change my life for anything.
“There hasn’t been a day where I’ve gone, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m out’.
“I get up every day and I just love what I do.
“If I can be that person for my daughters, to show them to follow their passions, then I’ve done that job right too.”
